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THE INCOMPARABLE MARVIN GAYE | THE TROUBLE MAN PREACHES

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From the desk of Contributing Editor, Eli M. Getson–

I’ve been thinking a lot about Marvin Gaye recently. He is, for me a least, the yardstick that all R&B singers (hell, all singers) are measured by. His life was also something of a contradiction. He could be religious, profane, introspective, romantic, highly political, debauched and raunchy in his music– and his personal life. Like all of us, Marvin Gaye had a lot of layers. His battles with his personal demons and his tragic murder at the hand of his own father are something out of a Greek tragedy. He’s been gone for some time now, yet his music (like all great music) sounds like it could have been made today.

By the end of the ’60s Marvin was tired of the music he was making– and fed up with the state of the world. Having built his career on the highly produced, highly stylized singles produced out of Berry Gordy’s Motown, he fought for the artistic right to do an about face and write, produce, and record “What’s Going On” in 1971. It is without question one of the finest albums of that decade, and perhaps in all of popular music.

“What’s Going On” changed everything for Marvin– he was now perceived as a serious and complex artist. It also veered R&B off into completely new territory. Heavily influenced by the politics of the day, the hippie culture, and the Black Power movement– the record is a high water mark for records of that time. It’s equal parts concept album, political album, and religious preaching. It’s also the only album I have ever listened to that combines all these elements and puts you squarely into the black, urban neighborhoods of the early 1970s. The joy, pain, longing, uncertainly, and ultimately wanting to escape that experience are powerful themes explored over the course of the nine songs.

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“If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else”

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Marvin Gaye (Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)

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This was uncharted territory for a black artist at that time. While some, notably Curtis Mayfield and Isaac Hayes had explored the true album format versus a collection of singles–Marvin was the first to do it. It was also a massive risk for both Marvin and Motown to release this album. Motown was largely known for radio friendly, crossover singles, not albums that lamented the Vietnam War, drugs in the ghetto, pollution, racism, and overtly religious themes. There was a lot of fear the album would flop, especially with the white audience Motown had worked hard to cultivate. The album broke to enormous critical and fan approval. Anyone who listens to “What’s Going On” will be greeted by a sound experience not unlike listening to other epic recordings such as– “Blood on the Tracks”, “The White Album”, or “The Wall”. It is that complex, that immense, and that good. It listens more like an opera or symphony then a pop album.

It shows how diverse, some would say crazy Marvin was that the follow-up was the equally legendary “Let’s Get it On”, which celebrates, eh-hem, the arts of the bedroom. By this point Marvin was heavily into drugs and his life, like a lot of artists of his generation, had spiraled out of control. He still managed to make a few great songs– I mean you could not start a party back in the day without “Got to Give it Up”, and “Sexual Healing” was a comeback for him. But Marvin could never re-channel the creative energy from the early ’70s.

Marvin himself said it best, “As an artist, my purpose is to awaken the human spirit.”

Marvin was my John Lennon. And for black folks (and white folks like me growing up in Flint, Detroit – and inner-cities all over the country) his loss was profound.

It was the day after my 12th birthday that we lost him, and only 4 years after Lennon. The circumstances and tragedy were almost identical.

Marvin was his own genre. How often would you say to someone “What do you feel like listening to? Jazz? Blues? Rock?”

“Put on Marvin Gaye” – he was his own genre.

The author of this article is 100% correct. Barry Gordy thought Marvin was out of his mind wanting to release “What’s Going On” and fought it all the way. When it was released, Marvin went from entertainer to prophet overnight.

When Marvin died I cried and cried. I miss him so much. But his music makes me smile, groove, laugh, and experience joy on levels that few people can understand, and for that gift, I will be forever eternally grateful.

I highly recommend the special 30th anniversary two-disc deluxe edition of “What’s Going On” which has all sorts of varying versions of the original cuts, 35 songs in total…

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My god, I remember this like is was yesterday. Marvin looked flawless, sang beautifully, and Julius Erving was All Star MVP. The tab collar, the tie, the pocket square the voice, the rendition of the Star Spangled Banner…he was one of a kind.